


The Beifong Legacy

by jorlau



Category: Avatar: Legend of Korra, Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: F/F, F/M, Gen, Humor, Lin adopts Mako kind of, Post-Finale, Satobot, Secret tunnel, life-changing field trip
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-01-21
Updated: 2015-01-25
Packaged: 2018-03-08 11:07:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 4,500
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3206930
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jorlau/pseuds/jorlau
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“Okay, back up,” said Mako. “You <em>are</em> talking about the Secret Tunnel Song, right?”</p><p>Every family's culture has some taboos. Calling tea "hot leaf juice" if you belong to the Fire Nation royal family. Buying Cabbage Corp products if you're a Sato. Or, if you're a Beifong, criticizing the Secret Tunnel Song. Unfortunately for Mako, he didn't realize he'd become an unofficial Beifong.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. In Which Mako and Korra Make Mistakes

“You WHAT?”

The chorus of shocked voices was deafening. Korra looked around wide-eyed. “Hey, give me a break, I was raised in a secret compound at the South Pole!”

“The White Lotus was supposed to be educating you,” Lin pointed out grimly.

“They did!” Korra protested.

“Then how do you not know that? It's one of the most important pieces of lore in the Earth Kingdom! It's probably one of the most important pieces of lore in the _world_!” Bolin exclaimed.

“And it's a great song, too!” Wing added.

“It speaks to you on a deep, profound level,” Huan said dreamily

“Okay, back up,” said Mako. “You _are_ talking about the Secret Tunnel Song, right?”

It had started so innocently. Su had invited Team Avatar and Lin to visit the newly-restored city of Zaofu while Toph was in town, and after many scheduling conflicts and arguments they had finally managed to set up a time where they could all be there. (Bolin went early, while Korra and Asami arrived a day before Mako, who had his hands so full wrangling Lin into accompanying him that he hadn't been able to figure out how to convince Wu to stay behind.)

They had settled in without incident, had a tour of the city's renovated wonders, and were relaxing over dinner when somehow or another, the subject of family rituals had come up, and Asami had mentioned a dim memory of her mother singing her the Secret Tunnel Song at bedtime when she was little. And Korra had made the dire mistake of asking what it was, and had discovered what it felt like to have her girlfriend, her best friends, the entire extended Beifong family, and a retired king with delusions of musical talent all stare at her as though she'd grown another head. (It felt weird.)

“Don't tell me you don't like the Secret Tunnel Song,” Wu said to Mako, shaking his head.

“I just don't think it's that great a song, that's all,” Mako said defensively. “And the story–“

“This is what you're training up to be the next chief of police in Republic City?” Toph asked Lin, her voice dripping with scorn.

“I don't think good taste in music is actually in the job description,” countered the current police chief, though she was looking at Mako with an expression of deep disappointment.

“Wouldn't know, I never read it,” Toph grinned.

“So... does someone want to tell me about this song?” Korra cut in, and hastily retreated behind Asami when everyone turned to look at her again.

“We can sing it to–“ Bolin began, but Toph cut him off, leaping to her feet with such vigor that the dishes on the table in front of her flew across the room.

“I've got a better idea!” the world's greatest earthbender proclaimed. “It's time for a Beifong family outing! Everybody go get packed; we're taking a life-changing field trip to the Cave of Two Lovers!”

“This will not end well,” Mako groaned.


	2. In Which Su Takes Chances

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mako is officially declared an honorary Beifong, which proves hazardous to his health, and Korra's education in vitally important lore begins.

It didn't start well. They argued first about modes of transportation; Wing and Wei wanted to hike the whole way, while Toph favored an earth wave and Asami stubbornly insisted that it wasn't practical to hike that far for a field trip and they should take the airship. Asami won, because Toph, while not fond of flying, enjoyed lying back and relaxing enough to grudgingly admit she had a point. Then securing the airship while they explored became a contentious topic (Mako hopefully offered to stay aboard, and was promptly earthbent into the ceiling) and Asami had to spend some hours proving that the alarm system she'd installed was really up to the job of ensuring that they wouldn't have to walk back to Zaofu. Finally they argued about whether to go to Omashu and enter the tunnel from there, or whether to make Omashu the final destination and follow the path Aang, Sokka, and Katara had taken; Bolin held that it would be only appropriate for the new Team Avatar to follow in their predecessors' footsteps, while Huan held that taking the opposite route would let them have a fresh new take on the secret tunnel's majesty. Bolin won that argument, though Toph taunted him about his admiration for the past Avatar's companions for the rest of the day.

Eventually, though, they were all packed into the airship and had settled on more or less where they wanted to leave it (far enough from the tunnel's entrance to have to do some hiking to get there, much to Wing and Wei's satisfaction), and they took off. The ride was not long, but the Beifongs bickered and made fun of everyone else (except Asami, who managed to convince them that she needed absolute quiet to steer properly and consequently was left strictly alone) to the point where it felt like an eternity before they touched down and were able to start their walk to the Cave of Two Lovers.

“I still don't understand why I had to come along,” Mako grumbled to Korra and Asami as they hiked near the back of the group, Naga close on their heels.

“Lin picked you, so we've got to make a Beifong of you somehow,” Toph said cheerfully from the very front of the group, swinging herself athletically between two boulders.

“You don't have to be a Beifong to be a cop!” Mako protested.

“It's not because you're a cop,” Su said mischievously. “It's because you're like the son Lin never had.”

“I never said that,” Lin snapped.

“You don't have to,” Su leaped over a rough patch in the trail, shooting a grin over her shoulder at her sister. “We can all tell.”

Lin glared daggers at Su, with absolutely no effect. Mako was blushing and trying not to make eye contact with anybody, which resulted in him tripping; Asami, walking just behind him, caught him by the back of his shirt, preventing him from doing a full faceplant.

“Hey, but if Mako is Lin's son, and he's my brother, then what–” began Bolin.

“Nothing,” Lin and Mako said in unison.

“You get the honorary Beifong thing from being engaged to Opal anyway,” Korra pointed out.

“He's not an honorary Beifong until they're married,” Toph growled, causing Bolin's face to go from rapturous to pouting.

“But Mako gets to be one just because Lin doesn't hate him?” Korra frowned.

“I never said that, either,” Lin said.

“Do you hate me, Chief?” Mako asked, hopeful.

“That's entirely beside the point,” Lin said.

“Oh,” Mako said, sounding subdued.

“But you're a good enough kid,” Lin admitted grudgingly after a moment.

“Awwwww,” chorused Bolin and the Beifong kids. Asami and Korra both hastily reached out to catch Mako as he tripped again.

“So does anyone want to at least tell me why we have to go to a cave for me to hear this song?” Korra asked, hoping the distraction might keep Mako from injuring himself and Lin from injuring everyone else.

“It's not just a cave,” Asami explained. “It's a–“

“SECRET TUNNEL!” cried Bolin.

“A secret _labyrinth_ of tunnels, supposedly built by the first human earthbenders,” Asami said.

“Because of their secret forbidden love!” Bolin declaimed.

“Apparently there were two tribes at war, and a man from one of the tribes fell in love with a woman from the other one, so they built the tunnels to meet secretly,” Mako said, sounding bored.

“They say the only way you can get through safely is to trust in love,” Wu put in. “They say that's how the lovers were able to find each other while everyone who wanted to stop them meeting would get lost and die.”

“You can trust in love,” Toph snorted. “Or you can trust in the badger-moles. I don't need either of them.”

“So our choices are love, badger-moles, or Toph?” Korra said, grinning. “Tough call.”

“I think I'll go with Toph,” Mako said. “I'm honestly not sure how you use love as a navigational aid.”

(Korra and Asami, remembering some of their wanderings in the Spirit World, exchanged guilty grins behind his back.)

“That's the first sensible thing you've said,” Toph grunted.

A short while later they descended into the cave. Korra moved forward, firebending to light the way for the first part of the group, while Mako continued bringing up the rear with his own light. Toph, who didn't need to worry about navigating in the darkness, soon was well ahead of everyone else, urging them along and calling them slowpokes.

“Can we start singing now?” Bolin asked as they marched through the darkness.

“Let's!” cried Wing.

“On the count of three,” Opal suggested. “Since Korra's never heard it before, let's make it good. One... two... three!”

“Two lovers, forbidden from one another,” chorused everyone except Korra and Mako. “A war divides their people, and a mountain divides them apart....”

The tunnel floor rumbled ominously beneath them as the earthbenders danced their way through the maze of twisting passages.


	3. In Which Storytime Gets Messy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Asami geeks out so hard over the secret tunnel's lighting that the whole expedition has to be stopped. Fortunately, not everyone present is quite as bad at telling stories as Toph.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here I finally manage to fit in my latest contribution to the glorious "Satobot" revolution, founded by [wegglebots](https://archiveofourown.org/users/wegglebots/pseuds/wegglebots).

Half an hour later, Korra finally interrupted the singing – she had joined in quickly, once she caught the words, and her enthusiastic stomping through the chorus was definitely contributing to the minor earthquakes that kept shaking the tunnels – to ask a question.

“Do any of you know _how_ you're supposed to get through here by trusting in love?”

“What, trusting in me not good enough for you?” Toph grinned.

“I just don't understand how it works,” Korra said, looking around at the walls. “I've seen places in the Spirit World where you have to work your way through by following a feeling, or where love literally moves you through, but this isn't at all like those places.”

“How does the love moving you through the Spirit World thing work?” Bolin asked, sounding confused.

“It just sort of does,” Korra said impatiently. “You... focus, and the world moves around you.”

“This place is a little more ordinary,” said Lin, after a pause. “Put out your light. You too, Mako.”

Korra glanced at Mako and was relieved to see that he looked just as confused as she was, though he promptly stopped firebending. This, at least, wasn't something everyone else knew and she didn't. She snuffed out the fire in her hand, and the world was suddenly bathed in cool green light.

This was evidently something that only Su and Lin had seen before, judging by the gasps that went up from Baatar and the younger members of the party. A trail of glowing crystals embedded in the ceiling illuminated their stunned faces.

“Wow,” Mako breathed.

“It's beautiful!” Wu exclaimed.

“Why do they start glowing when the lights go out?” Asami demanded, standing on tiptoe to try to see them better.

“Classic Satobot,” said Korra affectionately, using her favorite pet name for her girlfriend. “See an amazing thing out of a legend, and the first thing you try to do is reverse-engineer it.”

“I didn't try to reverse-engineer you when we met,” Asami shot back.

Korra blushed at the analogy, but grinned. “Really? Because you figured me out pretty quickly.”

Asami shrugged. “You weren't exactly hard to read.”

“So you reverse-engineered me without trying?”

“Sure, if that's how you want to think about it,” said Asami, still focusing on the ceiling. “Can you lift me so I can take a closer look at those crystals?”

Korra stamped her foot, and the ground under Asami's feet shot upwards, forming a tall stone pillar and lifting her until her head was just below the lights. “Let me know when you want to get down.”

“Thanks, Korra,” the engineer said, and began to inspect the crystals.

“We're going to be here for a while, aren't we?” Toph flopped down on the tunnel floor with a resigned sigh.

“Looks like it,” Korra said, watching Asami, who was scribbling on a small notepad, oblivious to her surroundings.

They all settled down, and Su and Baatar, whose years of parenting five children had evidently left them with some deeply-entrenched habits, handed out snacks.

“How did you know about the crystals?” Bolin asked Lin eventually around a mouthful of an improbable but delicious dried-seaweed-and-mushroom bar (invented as trail rations by Su's chef).

“Aang and Katara told us how they got through here,” she replied, tossing a rock casually into the air and catching it again.

“I'm going to have to ask Katara for that story,” Korra said, drumming her feet lightly on the ground.

“What about the badger-moles?” Wu asked, hopefully.

“Aang and Katara didn't have much to do with them,” Su said, smiling. “Sokka did, though. Apparently he had to sing to them for quite some time.”

“Well, if we run into any badger-moles, we should be fine,” Mako commented. “You can all sing at _them_ forever.”

“Actually, badger-moles prefer to have different songs sung to them,” Wu told him seriously. “They'd get bored if we just sang the Secret Tunnel Song for too long.”

“Really?” Mako said, raising his eyebrows in feigned shock. “What a weird idea!”

“Lighten up, Mako,” Bolin said. “I saw you smiling earlier!”

“I was laughing at you guys,” Mako said swiftly. “I can't believe you still cry every time you hear that song.”

“To be specific,” said Asami from the top of the pillar, tapping one of the crystals carefully with an odd-shaped tool she had produced from somewhere as she spoke, “he starts crying within the first two lines of the last verse.”

“It's just so sweet and sad!” Bolin protested. “I can't believe you _don't_ cry.  Poor Shu....” Tears were welling up in his eyes again.

“I agree,” Wei said, sniffling a little. Wing and Huan both nodded silent agreement, and Opal draped a comforting arm around Bolin's shoulders.

Mako shook his head, but didn't respond further. There was a pause, and then Wu asked Su and Lin to tell Sokka's story.  They did, arguing over the details, and it reminded Korra of a story Sokka had told  _her_ when she was a  very  little girl. Toph insisted that Korra's recollection of the story was completely wrong, and she didn't know whether to blame Sokka or Korra, but refused to provide more than a few cryptic hints about what exactly bothered her. (Something about cabbages?)

Korra's story reminded Bolin of the time he was kidnapped by the Equalists.  This led to Korra and Mako arguing about details until Korra demanded that Naga resolve the matter and Mako insisted that Naga would be biased in favor of Korra's interpretation, a suggestion Korra dismissed as patently unfair. (Naga looked bored through the entire exchange, and declined to comment.)  Korra and Mako's argument, in turn, reminded Su of a story about Appa, and there's no telling how long the story exchange would have lasted if there hadn't been a rumble in the floor strong enough to make Asami drop and grab at her pillar, followed a moment later by the appearance of a giant, hairy form.

“Hooray!” cheered Wu. “The badger-moles are here!”


	4. In Which Asami Does Some Research

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mako and Lin finally get into the spirit of things, and Asami takes base advantage of her status.

“You know, Wu,” Mako said wearily as they trudged through the tunnels behind the badger-moles, “you could let someone else sing something for the badger-moles for a while.”

“Yeah,” put in Asami in her sweetest, most I-will-destroy-you-presently tone. “You don't want to strain your voice, do you?”

“I suppose not,” Wu conceded. “Who wants to go next?”

“Asami and I heard some pretty good songs when we were visiting Iroh in the Spirit World,” Korra said quickly.

“You learned songs you're willing to sing in polite company from him?” Su asked, eyebrows raising. “I know nobody present is technically a child any more, but as I recall....”

“Well, yeah, we heard some of those,” Korra blushed. “A lot of them are fine, though. He wasn't the only one who sang, either. There are some spirits who are really musical. There's one song these two blobby white spirits sang that I remember pretty well....”

“I know which one you're talking about,” said Asami, smiling. “You want to start, or should I?”

“You start,” Korra said, smiling back at her.

“It's wonderful...” began Asami.

Recognizing the tune, Lin reached quickly out to cover Mako's ears.

Everyone laughed. Mako grinned as he pulled away, trying to act petulant. “Aw, Mom, c'mon!”

“There are some torments nobody should be subjected to, kid,” Lin deadpanned. “Hearing your exes sing that song together is one of them. I'm just looking out for you.”

“Aww,” Bolin cooed. “That is so sweet!”

“I'm okay, Chief,” Mako said, squaring his shoulders bravely. “I can take it.”

“Don't say I didn't warn you,” Lin said, shrugging.

Asami winked at Korra, and the two of them slid their arms around each other's waists and leaned their heads close together.

“Shall we try again?” Asami murmured.

“Whatever you want, my dear,” Korra said dreamily.

Mako bit his hand to keep from laughing as the two women took up the song again.

 

The badger-moles left them abruptly in the tomb. This didn't bother anybody very much, because between reading the story of the famous lovers in the authoritative form and poking around in the small passages that branched off near the tomb's entrance, they were all quickly distracted. While Asami and the twins, after one read through the legend, poked around in the passageways, Toph and Lin lounged on rocks at opposite sides of the cavern, and Su and Baatar rummaged out another round of snacks, the others discussed the historical significance of the site.

When Bolin realized that they were standing on the site of what he called “Aang and Katara's first almost-kiss” he had a minor meltdown. Opal soothed him until Mako, grumpiness beginning to return, ordered him to sit down and eat something, which Bolin did while protesting bitterly that Mako had no romance in his soul. (Mako cheerfully agreed.)

Wing and Wei returned at the hint of food, but Asami had disappeared. Nobody commented on this until, as Lin was beginning to hint darkly about moving on so they could get to Omashu by nightfall, Korra suddenly jumped up from where she had been sprawling on the cavern floor gazing up at the crystals.

“Asami's in trouble,” she said, her face taking on the expression it always wore when her Avatar senses were telling her something she hadn't figured out a translation for yet.

“What?” Mako leaped to his feet. “Where? What kind of trouble?”

“Nothing a good earthbender can't fix, I don't think,” Korra said, frowning. “I'll go find her. It shouldn't take long.”

Mako raised his eyebrows as Korra left, but didn't make any comment.

Asami was in fact very definitely stuck in a narrow crevice a ways down one of the passages, inspecting a glowing crystal that she had detached from somewhere with no apparent concern when Korra arrived. The Avatar sized up the situation and deftly bent the walls away, stepping forward to catch Asami as she fell free of the stone that had been holding her in place.

“Oh, hey Korra,” Asami said, smiling at her. “Thanks for getting me out. Can you do something about my leg? I kind of hurt it trying to get through there.”

“Let me see,” Korra dropped down to inspect the injury and made a face. “Wow. How did you do that? You're not exactly what I'd call accident-prone.”

“I saw some low-down crystals I thought it would be all right to take back and study,” Asami replied, wincing as Korra prodded the wound. “I knew I might get stuck, but with you and all these other earthbenders around, I figured it was worth the risk.”

“You do realize how far from the others we are right now?” Korra said, applying water from the bottle she had brought for the trek to Asami's leg.

“You heard me calling you, didn't you?” Asami retorted.

“Yeah,” Korra admitted. “I even got a good idea of what was wrong. But–“

“I'm getting in touch with my spiritual side,” Asami told her, voice grave but expression teasing. “I think I did pretty well, don't you?”

“Yes, but–“

“I'll admit it's not as impressive when the person you're contacting is the most powerful spiritbender in the world,” Asami went on. “Even so, you have to give me some credit.”

“For taking advantage of the fact that the mighty Avatar is hopelessly smitten with you?” Korra settled back, her healing work complete. “All right, I give in, you're an amazing genius as always. Anything else you want me to do for you?”

“Maybe later, oh mighty Avatar,” Asami kissed Korra lightly on the cheek. “For now, let's get back to the others. We should probably get moving again, and I could use a snack.”

Mako raised his eyebrows again when they emerged, his eyes taking in Asami's disheveled garments and her smug smile as well as Korra's fondly exasperated expression.

“I take it she got hurt?” he asked Korra.

“Trapped her leg,” Korra replied. “Nothing I couldn't handle, of course.”

“Of course,” Mako said.


	5. In Which Mako is Glad He Didn't Stay Home

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In the thrilling conclusion to the Beifong family's exciting field trip, Korra's powers fail to solve Asami's problems, and the members of Team Avatar gain a new appreciation for the classic saying: what happens in the Cave of Two Lovers stays in the Cave of Two Lovers.

The sun had long since set by the time they finally emerged from the tunnels. This immediately led to an argument about whether to camp there and return in the morning or head to Omashu and look for “real beds with real pillows”, as Wu put it. In the end, Toph settled the question by throwing up a stone tent around herself and declaring the debate over.. Soon, one conventional tent (Wu's; Mako had reasoned that the former prince would become intolerable if obliged to actually sleep on the ground, and had laden Naga down with tent and bedding to prevent this) and a cluster of earth ones were set up around a small fire. Bolin wanted to tell scary stories and sing songs, but since they would be returning through the tunnels in the morning, he was eventually convinced that singing could wait until the next day.

They did tell scary stories. Toph's tale of how she and her friends had learned about the existence of bloodbending failed to impress, probably because she rendered it as “I heard people screaming, an old lady invited us to stay with her, and in the end Katara had to bloodbend her.” Bolin threw out improbable tales he'd heard from people whose relatives had been there, which the Beifongs picked apart ruthlessly; Wing and Wei gloried in bloody tales from the old Earth Kingdom. Korra, after listening to this for a while, contributed a story she insisted had happened to one of her past lives' husband's sister, which nobody believed because she refused to say which past life.

Asami retreated after a few stories to the stone tent Korra had carefully assembled for them, where she burrowed into her sleeping bag and continued her analysis of the glowing gem she had taken from the caverns. When Korra eventually gave up on the idea of being scared and joined her, she found the engineer sitting against the tent wall, glowering at the stone as though it had personally offended her.

“What's the matter?” Korra asked, flopping down beside Asami.

“I wish I had a better magnifying device,” Asami said grumpily. “I'm sure there's something about the crystal structure that can explain the glow, but this–“ she waved a magnifying glass irritably “–isn't strong enough.”

“Let me see that,” Korra said, taking the crystal. She looked at it for a moment, then closed her eyes, her face shifting into the blank expression she wore when she was using her Avatar abilities. Asami watched, apprehensively.

“Huh,” Korra opened her eyes and looked pensively at the rock. “I thought Oma and Shu had probably earthbent the crystals specially somehow, but it looks like they did some spiritual stuff too. Let me try something....” She reached out and took Asami's hand, threading their fingers together, then brought their joined hands to touch the crystal together. Her brow furrowed in concentration, and Asami felt a surge of spiritual energy. The crystal flared brightly, and Asami jumped and jerked away.

“What was that?” the engineer demanded.

“Wow,” Korra stared at the stone, which was still shining brightly. “I think I was wrong about the Cave of Two Lovers not being like those parts of the Spirit World. This crystal does have a special structure, but it's literally powered by love.”

“Seriously?” Asami's eyebrows shot up. “Oma and Shu must have been the most disgustingly mushy couple in history.”

“Probably,” Korra laughed at the expression on Asami's face. “On the bright side, I think I can make more of these.”

“Great,” muttered Asami.

“Sorry,” Korra said, reaching out to put an arm around Asami's shoulders. “I guess technological challenges aren't the sort of thing you like having solved with Avatar powers, are they?”

“It's all right,” Asami smiled at her. “I was just looking forward to the challenge of figuring this out.”

“There might be a way to make the change happen without spirit power,” Korra offered.

“That's true,” Asami brightened. “And I can still look into replicating the physical structure, preferably without earthbending....”

Korra smiled and lay back. “That's my Satobot.”

 

Their return through the tunnels and to Zaofu was uneventful, marked principally by Su and Toph teasing Lin mercilessly, though Mako singing to the badger-moles distinguished itself as the most interesting part of the entire field trip, followed by his joining in the Secret Tunnel Song towards the end of the walk. (He sang well, but his choice of traditional children's songs to entertain the badger-moles caused some amusement.)

“Do you actually like the Secret Tunnel Song now?” Wu asked Mako as he and Team Avatar walked back to their guest rooms on Zaofu, safely out of the hearing of any Beifongs.

“I still don't think it's great as a song,” Mako admitted. “But I think whenever I hear it now I'm going to think about the Chief dancing, and that time she covered my ears....”

“It'll remind you that she doesn't hate you?” Korra asked, laughing.

“Yeah,” Mako laughed too. “You can't really help liking a song if you associate it with something like that, can you?”

“That reminds me,” Asami said. “I made a list of things that happened on this trip to never talk about in front of anyone who wasn't there. Lin dancing and covering Mako's ears are the top two things on it.”

“Ooh,” said Bolin. “Can you also put Toph yelling at me and Opal on it? Because that was really embarrassing.”

“Hey, none of us wanted to know about that,” Mako held up his hands.

“We weren't doing anything!” Bolin clutched his head.

“Well, maybe next time you don't do anything, you shouldn't do it on the ground near someone who sees with earthbending,” Mako said reasonably.

“That's already on my list, so – please stop talking about it,” said Asami firmly.

“Yeah,” said Wu brightly. “Let's sing another song instead!”

“All right, how about this one?” Mako grinned. “Even if you're lost you can't lose the love because it's in your heart....”


End file.
